Heroic Stand by the Grand Duke of Luxemborg

H/T to Rocco Palmo on this story out of Luxemborg where Grand Duke Henri - a Catholic, is aiming to veto a euthanasia bill, all the while lawmakers are preparing to strip him of his veto power.

It's a sad story of the times where many people in powerful positions will have to follow their well-formed conscience and accept the worldly consequences. From Spiegal Online:

Grand Duke of Luxembourg Will Lose His Veto

Luxembourg's parliament looks ready to strip the Grand Duke of his last lawmaking power as a controversy over euthanasia comes to a head. One of Europe's last royals with political sway may lose his formal veto by taking a stand against a law legalizing euthanasia.

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg, who has said he would interfere with a decision by parliament, will likely be stripped of his veto in a historic decision after a heated showdown over a bill to legalize euthanasia.

Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg protested the bill and threatened to kill it next week by refusing to sign it into law.

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg, who has said he would interfere with a decision by parliament, will likely be stripped of his veto in a historic decision after a heated showdown over a bill to legalize euthanasia.

Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg protested the bill and threatened to kill it next week by refusing to sign it into law.

"I understand the Grand Duke's problems of conscience," said Juncker, "but I believe that if the parliament votes in a law, it must be brought into force."

The euthanasia bill has been controversial since 2001. It would let patients with "grave and incurable" conditions die at the hands of a doctor if they ask repeatedly to be euthanized and earn the consent of two doctors and a panel of experts. Medical and physician groups have opposed the bill, though, and so have many citizens of this traditionally Catholic nation.

It follows similar laws in the Netherlands and Belgium, where King Baudouin -- Henri's uncle -- abdicated for a day in 1990 to avoid signing a Belgian abortion law. The current Belgian king, Albert II, has signed Belgium's recent euthanasia and homosexual-marriage laws over his private Catholic beliefs.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a constitutional monarchy, and the Grand Duke is its head of state. He has indicated that he won't stand in the way of any change to the constitution.

I'm wondering how many of those lawmakers in parliament working to strip the Grand Duke of his veto power are Catholics.

Rocco notes something else in his blogpost:

The incident evokes echoes of Belgium in 1990, when the late King Baudouin I abdicated his throne for a day in objection to a measure placed before him loosening restrictions on abortions. The government temporarily assumed the king's powers, and enacted the law in his stead. Earlier this year, Baudouin's widow Queen Fabiolarevealed that she had suffered five miscarriages; the couple remained childless.The famously-devout Belgian sovereign -- the last person to receive the top honor of papal knighthood, the Supreme Order of Christ -- was Henri's uncle.

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!